


Lord Knows

by Madaboutagirl



Series: Supergirl - A Series of Villains [4]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, supercat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-06-07 10:05:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6799471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madaboutagirl/pseuds/Madaboutagirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maxwell Lord knows everything about Supergirl and her alter-ego Kara Danvers. The only thing that he's not positive of is whether Cat Grant knows her personal assistant is her favorite superhero. Lord hopes that he'll be the one to point it out to her when the time comes. But until then, he intends to exploit General Lane's interest in meta-humans to his own advantage and in time Lord hopes that he can convince the military to allow him to help with Project Cadamus. An army of meta-humans is the most obvious way to counter the aliens on our planet, surely it won't take much to convince the general of that...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Any word from your father as to what exactly the military has done with the remains of The Detonator?" Alex asks Lucy.

Lucy looks up from her desk to the agent standing in the doorway to her office. "Alex, you know that I would tell you if I knew something," the brunette replies setting her pen down.

Closing the door, Alex steps in closer. "I'm sorry. I just really wanted to examine that body. I have so many questions and I doubt that the military will give me any answers," she says clearly frustrated.

"I know that it's been a few weeks," Lucy says standing up and coming around the desk to face Alex. "The General is playing this very close to his vest, not even his chief of staff knows anything," she adds. "And I even asked Lois to talk to him and she got nothing from him either."

"Well that probably means they took it to Project Cadamus," Alex replies. "Damn it, I really wanted to get this one. The biometrics of how the chemical entered his system and enhanced him instead of killing him is something that I really wanted to study. Each of these meta-humans are affected differently and I just need to understand how it happens," she exclaims pacing the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm still running tests," Maxwell Lord snaps. He's not used to being questioned like this, no one in his organization would dare to question him in this manner.

"We need answers Mr Lord. This isn't one of your pet projects that I'm asking about, this is a government operation and you agreed to provide daily status reports in return for the opportunity to examine those remains," General Lane barks into the phone.

"You'll have a full report once my analysis is complete. I don't see the point of a daily check in, but trust me General, I want answers as much as you do," Lord replies reassuring the other man that they are on the same side, even if they don't exactly agree on how to proceed.

"You'll provide a status report by the end of the day or I'll have a team over there to recover the body and move it to another facility!" the general demands before ending the call.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cat is scooping M&M's into the glass when she hears the tell tale footsteps behind her, she looks up into the mirror, a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth, she fights it off, feigning annoyance instead.

"Ms Grant, I have those reports that you asked for," Kara says approaching hesitantly.

Turning to look at the girl, Cat sighs and fishes a few candies out of the glass. "I missed you at lunch today," she replies popping the candy into her mouth.

"I had something to take care of," Kara replies vaguely. "Dinner tonight?" she asks hopefully as she steps in closer to Cat.

"Carter will want to play Settlers of Catan after dinner," Cat reminds her, reaching out to straighten her collar. Reminding herself to order a mirror for Kara's office, she never seems to put herself back together after her afternoon flights to see her sister.

"I don't mind, I just want to spend time with both of you," Kara confesses beaming a smile at her.

Even though they aren't even touching each other, Cat feels awash in Kara's love and affection, she allows herself a small smile in return.

Sensing Cat's reserve melting a bit, Kara decides to push a little, "Cat don't you think he's ready for us to tell him what's going on?" she asks softly.

Her mask returns and she glances up at the door to make sure they are still alone. "Kara, I've never spoken to him about sexuality, let alone my sexuality," Cat admits uneasily.

"He loves you, it won't be a big deal," Kara says reassuring her.

"Now you're an expert on my son?" Cat asks narrowing her eyes at the girl before her.

"He's your son and you've raised him to be loving and accepting of difference. Besides, I think he may love Kara Danvers more than he does Supergirl, now" Kara points out.

"When he finds out that you're Supergirl, I'll be lucky if he remembers who I am," Cat replies sarcastically.

"Well, he doesn't need to know that I'm Supergirl," Kara reminds her. "That will be our secret," she says with a wink.

"Dinner at 7," Cat says taking the reports from her and letting her fingers linger a moment on Kara's wrist. "I'll wait to tell him that you're joining us, just in case something else comes up," she adds.

"Thank you," Kara replies sincerely. This is new between them, but so far they've been negotiating their personal life around their professional one without many issues. And no one in the office seems to have caught on that they are involved yet. Although, Kara's certain that Winn suspects it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if your parents had never agreed to raise Kara as their own?" Lucy asks idly as they sit in traffic on their way home from the DEO. "I mean, she could have been raised by the Amazons. I can't even imagine that. Do you think that she'd still be Supergirl?"

"Of course, she would still be Supergirl," Alex replies. "But I doubt that I'd be at the DEO. I'd probably be working in a research lab, who knows I might even have worked for Maxwell Lord," Alex points out.

"Don't even joke about that," Lucy says pushing her shoulder playfully.

"I'm not. He's got one of the best labs in the country. He's on the cutting edge of research and technology in biochemistry," she counters her voice trailing off abruptly. "Damn, Max Lord has The Detonator, I just know it. It's not like he hasn't had other military contracts. I should have known that he would have negotiated for this one," Alex blurts out.

"Hold up, you really think that my dad would trust Max Lord?" Lucy asks.

"Your dad trusted Dr Morrow and look how that turned out," Alex replies, shuddering at the memory of the crazed man that she killed in the struggle for control over Red Tornado.

Lucy turns to her and puts the SUV in park, since the traffic has not moved an inch in the last ten minutes, "Alex," she says reaching out for her. "I'm sorry that I brought this up."

"It's fine, Luc. But I need to find a way into Max Lord's lab. I have to get him to let me help him examine and analyze The Detonator," Alex remarks pulling away from her touch.

Disappointed, Lucy turns back to face forward. Looking straight ahead at the traffic, she gets an idea and puts the SUV back in gear and pulls on to the shoulder, flipping the light bar on, she honks and makes people move out of her way.

"Lucy! What the hell?" Alex yells out.

"You want answers, I know where the General is right now. Let's go get them!" She says defiantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm almost there," Kara texts Cat to let her know that she's on time.

Glancing at her phone and seeing the message float by, Cat goes into the living room where Carter is finishing up his homework. "Kara's coming by and I invited her to dinner," she informs her son.

"Cool, can she stay and play Settlers of Catan with us?" he asks without looking up.

Cat smiles at her son's predictability. Maybe Kara's right, maybe he is ready for her to open up to him about her life more. "You don't mind that she's joining us?" Cat questions, hoping to get a reaction from him.

"No, I like it when she's here," Carter replies looking up at her and noticing the relieved look on her face, he adds, "Mom, are you seeing her?"

"Carter, I'm... it's complicated," Cat stammers.

"It's okay if you are. I like her and I like how she takes care of you," he says with a big smile.

"I-I like how she takes care of me too," Cat admits with a smile, before turning back to the kitchen to finish dinner. "Put all of that away and then come in here and help me set the table," she calls out over her shoulder.

Carter asks a few more questions as he carefully sets the plates around the table and Cat does her best to answer them honestly, surprised by how much the thirteen year old knows about human sexuality.

A few minutes later Cat is just setting the salad on the table when the elevator dings indicating Kara's arrival. She walks over to the door to wait for her.

The elevator doors open and Kara smiles when she sees Cat. "Hey, you look beautiful," she says breathlessly approaching her and waving to Carter who's standing behind her.

Wordlessly Cat steps in and kisses her hello. "Dinner's on the table," she says winking at the stunned girl. "Chop, chop."

"Uh, so that was new," Kara says softly following her into the kitchen. "What's going on? Have you been possessed again?" She asks teases nervously.

"Hey Kara!" Carter says bounding into the kitchen and greeting the blonde warmly with a light hug. "Mom told me and I think it's awesome that you two are together. Then turning around he blurts out, "Mom, can Kara join us on Saturday?" Before Cat can reply, he turns back quickly to Kara, "it's Free Comic Book day and we're going to Isotope," he explains.

"Oh," Kara exclaims still trying to process everything that's happening. The kiss from Cat in front of her son, the hug from Carter and his excitement to include her, is all overwhelming at first.

Cat smiles at her. "You should join us, if you're available on Saturday."

"Uh, I'd like that," Kara says suddenly realizing that this is huge. Cat has told Carter, so now they are officially together.

"Good night Mom. Good night Kara," Carter says hugging each of them. "See you in the morning," he adds with a wink at Kara.

Cat raises an eyebrow and shakes her head before turning to the blonde beside her.

"How did this happen? I thought that you weren't ready to tell him?" Kara blurts out.

"I didn't think that I was, but then it just happened. You were right," she says leaning in for a kiss.

"Wait, did you just say that I was right?" Kara says pulling away slightly and beaming a proud smile.

"Yes darling you were right," Cat repeats, before pulling her back in and kissing her soundly. Then breaking the kiss she adds, "Although now he's fountain of knowledge about sexuality. Apparently, I have some reading to do to catch up." Cat says reaching out to caress Kara's face before slipping a hand behind her neck and pulling back in for another kiss.

"Mmm," Kara murmurs into the kiss, her whole body humming as Cat presses against her.

"Perhaps we should move to the other room?" Cat suggests breathlessly.

"Kara, where are you?" Alex's voice interrupts the moment with Cat.

Cat feels Kara tense up and she pulls back with a frown.

"I'm just a bit busy, what's up?" she asks.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but this is important. Can you meet me at my place in ten minutes?" Alex questions.

"Sure," she replies. Then turning to Cat, the apology on her lips.

"Go, save the world," she says annoyed a little. "But, if it doesn't take all night, you should come back," Cat says reaching up to wipe her lipstick off of Kara's lip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alex, what's so important that it couldn't wait until morning?" Kara asks landing gently on the balcony of her sister's townhouse.

"Max Lord has The Detonator and we need to steal the body and move it to the DEO," Alex blurts out.

"How do you know that?" Kara questions.

"Lucy and I confronted General Lane and he all but confirmed it," Alex explains.

"General Lane gave The Detonator to Maxwell Lord?" Kara asks, suddenly realizing why her sister is so upset. "Have you told Hank yet?"

"No, he's out of pocket right now and I don't know if I can trust Lucy to help with this," Alex replies, knowing that Kara will ask about that next.

"Alex, if we're going to do this, we're going to need her help," Kara points out.

"I can handle Lord, all you need to do is get that body out of there, we won't need her to help with that," Alex counters.

"How exactly are you planning to handle Max Lord?" Kara asks.

"With this," Alex says holding up a little black dress.


	2. Chapter 2

"Alex, no. I can't go along with this," Kara says crossing her arms. "Even if you can get him to agree to let you into the lab, there's no way that we can sneak the body out. He has cameras all over his property," she points out.

There's a knock at the door and Alex rushes over to answer it.

"Hey Alex, what's with the 911 text?" Winn asks as she grabs his arm and pulls him inside.

"I need your help. Can you hack into the surveillance system of Lord Technologies?" She asks rapidly.

"Whoa, that's a serious ask," he blurts out. "Oh but is it for the DEO? Because if it's the government spying on Maxwell Lord, that I can totally get behind," Winn adds.

"It's not exactly for the DEO," Alex replies. "But what if I told you that Lord has The Detonator and he is colluding with General Lane to analyze the body?" She asks.

"Is he really doing that? Because that doesn't sound good. Lord created Bizzaro with Kara's DNA, imagine what he could do with The Detonator's?" Winn exclaims.

"That's exactly why I need to get into that lab," Alex points out, staring over at Kara.

"Alex, I'm sorry." Kara replies stepping over to the door.

"You're leaving? Kara I can't do this without you..." she says, then watches as Kara opens the door to reveal Lucy standing there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Un-fucking-believable!" Alex says slapping her head with her hand. "You had no right to call her, Kara."

"I'm acting director of the DEO and one of my agents is about to do something incredibly stupid. She had every right to call me Alex," Lucy says storming into the house.

"I have to get into that lab," Alex says angrily.

"I know, but why are you shutting me out? I've been helping you. It's because of me that you even know that he has the body," Lucy questions her girlfriend.

"Lucy, you can't be involved with this. There are too many grey areas," Alex explains to the brunette. "You can't risk being involved in this. Not only are you acting director of the DEO, you're still active military Lucy. Please just leave now and you'll still have plausible deniability," she points out.

"Alex, there are other options. I just need some more time to research this. I think that I can get that body transferred to the DEO," Lucy counters.

"There's no time. Lord has had it for weeks now. He's already extracted DNA and I'm sure that he's already mapped it. Don't you realize how dangerous that is? Look what he did with Kara's DNA!" Alex reminds her excitedly.

Then turning to glare at her sister, "Jesus, Kara, I trusted you. How could you do this?"

Kara stands her ground. She knows that she did the right thing. Now she just hopes that Alex will forgive her, especially after Lucy realizes the lengths that Alex was willing to go to get inside Lord's lab.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Excuse me? You have a date with Maxwell Lord tomorrow night, just what exactly is it that you're trying to protect me from?" Lucy exclaims trying to stay calm. Kara and Winn left right after she arrived, neither wanting to bear witness to the argument that was about to take place.

"Not a date, date. I'm just going to have dinner with him and see if I can persuade him to let me into his lab to assist with the analysis," Alex replies. 

"Persuade how?" Lucy questions. "With this?" she adds holding up the dress that was draped over the couch.

Rolling her eyes, Alex scoffs. "You do realize that I have a doctorate in biochemistry and I specialize in alternate life forms... h-he should have already asked me for help," she points out angrily.

"Alex, he can't ask you for help, because he doesn't want you to know what he's doing. Which is why this is so dangerous! Jesus, Alex as soon as he realizes that you know, he's going to increase all of his security and the rest of your plan doesn't have a chance!" Lucy counters back growling with frustration.

"Then what do you suggest that I do? Just wait until he's created a zombie army of Detonators, like he did with Bizzaro?" Alex replies sarcastically.

"I won't let it get to that point. I will file an injunction to stop him from using any of this analysis for his private gain," Lucy argues.

"It's not just his private gain that I'm worried about. I don't want him developing an army of meta-humans for the US Military either," Alex counters. "Lucy, we are on the same side here," she adds trying to bring things back down.

"I know that," Lucy says taking a deep breath. "No one wants an army of meta-humans and it wouldn't be legal for the military to contract for that. Robots and meta-humans are two completely different issues," she adds.

"Yeah, I know. I am the scientist here," Alex snaps. Then immediately regrets it. "I'm sorry, that wasn't necessary," she says softly.

"Look, I get it. Alex, you think that you should have known this was going to happen and somehow prevented it. You're scrambling now because you feel like this is somehow your fault," Lucy says realizing the other woman's motivation. "Alex you made the decision to stay with Supergirl after Hank recovered her, no one's judging you for that.

Alex deflates and sits down on her couch. "I was so worried about Kara, that I didn't realize that we weren't recovering the other body," she says pounding her fist on her knee in frustration.

Lucy sits down beside her. "I'm sorry. I should have sent out the second recovery team sooner. It didn't even occur to me at the time that anyone else would recover that body."

They both sit a moment, then Alex leans over and puts her head on Lucy's shoulder. 

Lucy smiles relieved. "Maybe we can just sleep on this tonight and discuss it again tomorrow morning," she asks softly.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Alex agrees, a bit relieved that they at least agree on that.

"Should I go?" Lucy asks, no longer confident of what Alex wants from her.

"No, stay." Alex says softly lifting up her head and wrapping her arms around her. "I'm sorry. I was trying to protect you, I don't want to hurt you."

Returning the embrace and pulling Alex closer, Lucy replies, "Then don't hurt me. Alex, this works when we're in it together. I know that our respective jobs will require us to keep secrets from each other, but what you were planning to do was dangerous. And not just dangerous for you, it was dangerous for us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Alex wakes up curled around the brunette, it took forever to fall asleep. She knows that Lucy's right, but she still wants to try to get into that lab.

Lucy opens her eyes, she can tell that Alex is awake, so she turns over to face her. "Hey," she says softly.

Alex smiles before pulling the brunette closer and kissing her.

"Mmmm, it's that kind of morning," Lucy replies laughing happily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across town, Kara wakes up alone, it doesn't take her long to remember where she is. The incredibly soft sheets and the morning breeze blowing in from the ocean remind her that she came back to Cat's last night. Smiling she looks out to see Cat sitting on her chaise lounge in her robe, reading the morning news on her iPad.

Rousing herself from the bed, she pads outside to greet her.

"Good morning, Cat," she says softly as she approaches, not wanting to startle her.

"Hmm," Cat replies taking a moment to finish what she's reading before setting the tablet down. "You didn't sleep well, would you like to talk about it?" Cat asks reaching out for her hand.

"I want to tell you about the incredibly insane thing that Alex wants to do, that I had to stop her from doing, but I can't," Kara replies, looking down and intertwining their fingers. "I'm sorry if I woke you," she adds.

"No, I wasn't sleeping well either," Cat sighs, letting Kara's first statement stand, she replies to the second one. "Is it wrong that I assumed Carter's father would have the sex talk with him?" she asks.

"No, I think that's a normal expectation," Kara replies, sitting down with her on the lounge chair. "Is that what kept you up last night?"

"Among other things," Cat says idly trailing her fingers along Kara's leg. "I haven't had anyone stay over with Carter in the house before," she admits almost shyly.

"Oh," Kara says smiling. "Should I go before he wakes up?" she asks.

"No, he invited you to stay last night, he'll be disappointed if you're not here," she replies. Moving in closer to Kara and slipping her hands under her tank top. "And I'd like to point out that he won't be up for another half hour," Cat adds, kissing her.

Kara pushes Cat back on the lounge and unties Cat's robe and manages to remove her own clothes all in one motion.

Cat gasps before delighting in the sight of Kara's body. "My god, you are so beautiful," she marvels, running her hands across Kara's broad shoulders and down her defined arms.

Wordlessly, Kara begins kissing her and letting her hands explore the other woman's body under the silk slip. "You feel amazing, Cat..." she says lifting her gently and removing the robe and slip. "I want you right here with the sun on my back," Kara states. It's not a question.

Cat nods, this Kara, the one who is confident and unyielding in what she wants, never fails to render her speechless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you for inviting me to come back last night, I really wanted to share this morning with you. I love seeing you with your son. He transforms you into this whole other being," Kara gushes after they drop Carter off at school.

Cat smiles at her. "Kara, you really have no idea of the effect that you have on people do you?" Cat questions.

"The effect that I have on people?" Kara scoffs. "Cat you affect people, not me."

"Your enthusiasm and positive disposition inspires people Kara, I know because it inspires me," Cat points out.

"You're teasing me," Kara replies.

"No, I'm serious. Starting my day with you today..." Cat's voice trails off, distracted by the memory.

"Oh, so it's the endorphins talking, you know that sex increases the blood flow to the brain," Kara points out playfully.

"Hmm, it has been awhile since I've had sex in the morning, perhaps I have forgotten the effect of it," Cat replies, a smile still playing on her lips. 

Kara relaxes into the seat smugly enjoying this relaxed version of Cat that only she and Carter get to witness.

"Wait, why do you know so much about it?" Cat asks, suddenly questioning why Kara would know about the effect of sex on the human brain.

"Well, I sort of took some human sexuality classes in college. Alex suggested it, so that I would better understand humans, she kind of got tired of all of my questions," Kara says slightly embarrassed.

"How many classes?" Cat asks.

"It was a double major," Kara replies.

"You completed two undergraduate degrees in four years of college?" Cat asks. "What exactly was the second degree in?"

"Feminist, Gender and Sexuality," Kara answers.

"Why was that not on your resume?" Cat asks.

"I didn't think that it would help me get a job as your assistant," Kara replies.

"You are right. It was quite obvious early on that you were completely overqualified to be my assistant," Cat remarks, a coy grin twitching at the corner of her mouth. "This is you," she says watching Kara's apartment building come into view.

"We're not done with this conversation," Kara says pausing to kiss her lightly before climbing out of the towncar.

"Morning meeting starts in 15 minutes," Cat says with a twinkle in her eye. "Don't be late."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alex, uh, hey," Kara says as she lands in the alley behind CATCO and Alex's voice fills her head on the comms.

"Can you talk?" Alex asks.

"Not really, I'm running late." Kara admits quickly changing back into her work clothes and dashing around to the side entrance.

"I stopped by your place this morning, but you weren't there," Alex replies.

"I stayed at Cat's last night. Alex, I'm sorry about calling Lucy. I just don't want you to jeopardise everything because of this thing you have for Max Lord," Kara blurts out.

"The thing that I have for Max Lord?" Alex almost yells into the phone, but she's driving and doesn't want to look like a crazy person on the 405. "Kara, he's immoral and dangerous. And he's working for the military," she reminds her sister.

"Okay, okay, look I can probably get away at lunch, we can talk then," Kara suggests.

"Fine, I'll have worked out the plan for tonight by then," Alex replies ending the call.


	3. Chapter 3

Kara literally flies up the stairwell to get to her office, the perfect office, she has to admit. Cat was really thinking ahead when she put her in this office at the end of the hall. And it was Winn who decided to program the hallway camera with a time stamp glitch, so it's always displaying the wrong time. But then Kara bent the housing unit so the camera couldn't be turned to catch anyone coming or going from her office. Setting her things down, Kara pauses to look into the mirror to make sure that she's put back together after flying up the stairs. The mirror was a recent gift from Cat, the hand written note still tucked into the corner.

_It's not how others see you that is important. It's how you see yourself... that is everything. CG_

Looking into the mirror, Kara allows herself one brief moment to reflect on her morning with Carter and Cat before grabbing her laptop and heading to the meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Out at the DEO, Lucy sits in her office, also ruminating over her morning. Alex initiating sex this morning was a definite red flag. She knows her too well to think for a moment that the agent is going to sit back and wait for Lucy to file motions to stop Lord. In fact, she's probably already talked Vasquez into helping her tonight and Lucy can't trust that Kara will tip her off again. Glancing up at the bank of monitors, Lucy spots Alex in the lab. She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. Before picking up the phone.

"We need to talk," she says bruskly into the phone.

"After your little stunt last night with Agent Danvers, I'm not too inclined to meet with you again," General Lane says gruffly to his daughter.

"General Lane, I am the acting director of the DEO and we need to discuss what happened to the remains of The Detonator. You stated last night that you had them recovered and delivered to a private lab, which makes no sense since Alex Danvers is the foremost authority on alien and meta-human biology. I want those remains transferred to this lab as soon as possible," she demands loudly. Her experience with men like her father is that they only respect people who demand respect.

"I appreciate your concern Director Lane, but you have no authority here. Those remains were recovered by the US Military in open waters," he points out.

"You wouldn't even have those remains if it weren't for Supergirl and the DEO," she argues, then remembering not to make it personal she adds, "Protocol requires that the remains should be delivered to the nearest government facility, prior to contracting an outside facility."

"The DEO is not an active military base and it's debatable that it's a government facility," he counters. But then adds, "Major, you can have the body after the Prometheus Lab has completed it's testing."

"The Prometheus Lab? How can you trust Maxwell Lord with the DNA of a meta-human? Dad, he couldn't even be trusted with Supergirl's DNA. He created clones out of comatose brain dead girls and now you're letting him have access to the highly volatile DNA of a meta-human!" Lucy exclaims angrily, pacing her office now in full rant. "You're leaving me few choices here General Lane, I suggest that you rethink this plan immediately," she adds before hanging up on him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then reaching for her phone she punches one button, "Get the plane ready, I'm going to DC within the hour," she says quickly before ending the call. Then turning to her laptop, she pulls up a short contact list that Hank gave her and begins calling everyone on it. A half hour later, she is packing her laptop and files into her go bag. On her way out of her office, she grabs her uniform, she'll change on the plane.

"She knows," Martine states jealously. She's had a crush on Lord since college and when she came to work for him and when he made her his personal assistant, she thought the attraction was mutual. But he has yet to act anything other than professional with her.

"Probably guessed is more like it; hoping to confirm her suspicions," Lord replies nonchalantly.

"And you don't intend to confirm anything, so why go?" Martine questions.

"Counter measures. It's an opportunity for me to get to know her and find out what makes her tick. I'll ask a series of innocuous questions, which she'll be forced to answer in order to maintain her cover of wanting to know me better," he says smugly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After her lunch meeting with Alex, Kara has been holed up in her office pouring over everything that she could find about Prometheus Labs. The soft knock on the door startles her. She glances up surprised to see Cat entering her office.

"Did I miss a meeting?" Kara asks confused.

"No. But I am curious about what you are working on. I tried to log in to research on the main frame and but it wouldn't let me on. Kara, why are you using my id instead of your own?" Cat questions as she makes her way around Kara's desk.

"I needed to protect this search," Kara answers nervously as she watches Cat looking at everything on her desk.

"Prometheus Labs? Kara why are you researching Maxwell Lord?" Cat asks a bit alarmed, she was trying not to pry, but certain words jumped out at her.

"Cat, please trust me. I used your log in, because your research history is more secure than mine. No one can know that I am researching him," she explains. "And if it turns into a story, you'll have everything you need already flagged in the system," she adds.

"Did Alex put you up to this? You've mentioned that she doesn't trust Max Lord," Cat questions.

"No, actually she doesn't know what I'm doing," Kara replies glancing down at her desk.

"I applaud your initiative, but in the future, you will notify me prior," Cat cautions. "Though we all know that forgiveness is often easier to obtain than permission," she says resting a hand on Kara's shoulder.

Kara smiles. No big blow up from Cat can only mean one thing... she does trust her.

"This has something to do with your fight with Alex yesterday?" Cat questions trying not to linger on any of documents spread across Kara's desk, but the temptation is too great. So instead she turns her back to the desk and rests lightly on the corner of it facing Kara instead.

"Yes, Alex is fixated on finding out more about one of Lord's projects. One that she shouldn't even know about. I think that it's too dangerous, but she doesn't agree," Kara replies trying to explain it as vaguely as possible.

"She needs to be careful, Max will take full advantage of her interest in his project and exploit it," Cat remarks.

"I know and Alex is obsessed with this. You should see the dress she's planning to wear tonight," Kara blurts out.

"Dress? Her plan is to seduce Maxwell Lord?" Cat questions. "I don't care how smart she is or how well trained she is in hand to hand combat, she's no where close to being equipped for that mission. His tactics are legendary, I've fallen for them myself," she admits reluctantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Cat?" Alex answers her phone cautiously. Why would Cat Grant be calling her?

"I've spoken with your sister and without providing me much context, she mentioned that you're meeting with Maxwell Lord tonight. I suggest that you come by here first and let me advise you. Unfortunately, I know him quite well and I can help you get what you want from him," Cat says confidently.

"This is completely inappropriate, I couldn't possibly involve you in this operation," Alex replies.

"I'm not involved in anything other than providing dating advice to my... to Kara's sister," Cat answers. "I'll expect you at 6 pm."

Alex looks at her phone. She's going to kill Kara. First she tells Lucy, now she tells her girlfriend. Is there anyone she won't tell this plan to... Jesus.

"Agent Danvers, Director Lane is on the phone," Vasquez says over the intercom.

"Okay, thanks," Alex says taking a breath.

"I have an injunction signed by the Joint Chiefs, they are notifying General Lane right now and he's to recover the body and all research and deliver to the DEO by tomorrow at noon," Lucy blurts out excitedly.

"How did you do that?" Alex asks shocked.

"I was able to use your research and testing on Bizarro as evidence against Prometheus Labs. I was able to show a distinct pattern of disregard for common accepted medical practice and testing. Let's face it, no one on that panel wanted to endorse a scientist who kidnapped brain dead women and injected them with alien DNA. The Bizarro case alone was enough to set a precedent against Prometheus and get the lab removed from the approved list of private contractors. Maxwell Lord is no longer allowed to do research for the government," Lucy explains.

"Wow, I'm sorry that I doubted you. Lucy that's amazing," Alex exclaims. But also wondering how long it will take for Max to find out about this. "Lucy, do you think that General Lane will notify Lord in advance, or just show up in the morning to collect everything?" She asks.

"The protocol for contract termination prohibits advance notification. I know that you don't think much of General Lane, but he's a top ranking Military commander, he will not break protocol," Lucy replies confidently.

"I hope that you're right, but Lucy, he broke protocol when he recovered the body and gave it to Prometheus," Alex points out.

"He didn't break protocol, he just bent it. He knew that he would get more information from Prometheus than he would from the DEO," she counters. "Wait, Alex are you still planning to meet with Lord tonight?" Lucy asks realizing the other reason she would ask that question.

"I'll be careful and Kara's going to be my back up," Alex replies.

"I thought if I took care of this, you wouldn't do that," Lucy exclaims in frustration.

"I'm sorry. I have to do this. I have to know what he knows and after tomorrow, he'll never talk to me again," Alex points out.

"Jesus Alex, I'm six hours away. I can't do anything to help you," Lucy blurts out.

"Don't worry. It will be over when you get here, just meet me at my place and we can debrief after," Alex says confidently.

"Alex, I know that you are brilliant and tactical, but men like Maxwell Lord, they're almost a different species than what you're used to dealing with," Lucy replies her voice heavy with concern.

"I know. That's why I'm consulting with an expert before I meet with him," Alex replies.

"An expert?" Lucy questions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dior, two seasons ago, but still a classic little black dress," Cat says looking up as Alex enters her office. "Louboutins? I'm impressed that you could afford those on a government salary," she adds admiring the shoes.

"I didn't come here for you to approve my outfit," Alex remarks, a trace of irritation in her voice.

"Well, I was prepared to have to raid my own closet to help you with this mission, so I'm just a bit relieved to see that you've done your homework," Cat replies. "There's more here to work with than I thought, given your penchant for polo shirts and cargo pants," she adds walking around Alex.

"Thank you, I think," Alex says sarcastically.

"Let's go outside away from prying eyes," Cat says crossing the room to open the balcony door.

"Kara knows that we're meeting," Alex points out as she sits down across from Cat.

"Yes, but she also thinks that you're running late," Cat explains. "I just sent her to the basement to retrieve some archived files. There are a few things that you need to know about Maxwell Lord, that I'd rather her not know just yet."

"Okay, but she has super hearing, unless your archived files are secured in a lead-lined room, she's going to hear," Alex points out.

"Well, it just so happens that the archives are in a fire resistant room that is lined in lead," Cat counters.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N: OMG Season 2 is all set. 22 episodes plus Calista too!**
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex takes a deep breath before heading into the restaurant to meet Max. Glancing up she nods to her sister who is hovering discreetly above street level. She would never admit to feeling nervous, but she does feel naked without a gun. Although after talking with Cat Grant, Alex does feel a bit more secure in her approach to this evening. "He's quite proficient at the interview method that I like to call 'death by a thousand cuts'," Cat had explained to her. Alex smiles at the thought. She's rather proficient at the technique herself, though she hadn't really considered that he would employ such tactics.

"Well, well," Max says rising to his feet as she approaches. "Mata Hari is stunning in Dior," he adds leaning in to kiss her cheek and waving off the Maitre d, so that he can seat her himself.

"You look rather dashing, but then Armani can do that for anyone," she counters playfully.

Max feigns pain, "You wound me with your words Dr Danvers," he replies.

"Alex is fine, or Mata Hari, if you prefer," she adds playfully.

"I was a bit intrigued by your call, Alex. " he says waving the waiter over. "Champagne?" Max asks her.

"Yes," she says with a small smile. Cat told her to be as agreeable as possible to throw him off.

"A bottle of Moet, 2002, if it's still available," he adds.

"Why wouldn't I want to know you better Max, you own one of the top private labs in the nation and you have the best and brightest minds in biomedical and biochemistry working for you," Alex replies. "I may work for the government now, but change is inevitable and usually a catalyst for growth," she remarks.

"Hmm," he says sampling the Champagne and nodding to the waiter to pour it.

Watching the waiter leave, Alex picks up her glass and holds it waiting for Max to do the same. "Here's to new friendships," she proposes. He smiles back and they each take a sip.

"I still regret not recruiting you when I had the chance," Max remarks, noting her reserve and poise. She either doesn't realize how expensive this bottle of Champagne is or she's much better trained than I gave her credit for, he thinks to himself.

"It's difficult to believe that I was even on your radar, Max," Alex retorts.

"Some academics stand out more than others," he answers. _"Aliens and Language: How Are Aliens Able To Understand The Many Languages on Earth._ I believe that was your thesis title?"

"Uh, you know the title to my thesis?" She asks feigning surprise, but Cat warned her that he would research her.

"I've read your thesis a few times. It almost seems like you had intimate knowledge of the alien mind," he remarks.

"Well, an interest in aliens runs in my family. I'm sure that you've done a background on me and know that my mother is a scientist," she replies.

"Ah, yes. Eliza Danvers, one of the leading minds in biochemistry. Who exactly does she work for again?" he asks.

Alex frowns slightly at the mention of her mother. "You probably know more about her work and who she works for than I do Max," she answers carefully.

Max considers her response and decides to take another tack. "Well your father was a man of science as well, which explains your genetic predisposition to science, yet your sister studied art and journalism in college," he points out.

"My sister is making her own way," she counters.

"Interesting that you haven't corrected me... she is your foster sister; your parents took her in twelve years ago. Now what was that story again? I remember it was rather interesting but some what light on the details," he inquires.

"Max, I love my family, but that doesn't mean that I want to talk about them all night," she says sweetly. "Now your parents were scientists as well, right?"

"Uh, they were. But we've already had this conversation about my parents. Alex, why don't you tell me what happened to you in college that caused you to walk away for six months?" He asks.

"After eight years of intense study, I experienced a brief burnout that delayed the defense of my thesis," Alex admits, carefully taking another sip of the most expensive Champagne she's ever had.

"Is that what you call it, a momentary burnout?" He asks.

"Yes, it happens to many people, I'm hardly unique in that aspect," Alex points out.

"I disagree, I find you unique in many ways," Max says charmingly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lucy, she's fine," Kara says sitting on top of a nearby building where she can still monitor the date.

"How is it going? Has she found out anything?" Lucy asks.

"I'm not sure, but she is leading him into another conversation about alien anatomy and genome mapping," Kara replies.

"Has she asked anything about meta-human testing?" Lucy questions.

"No, she has mostly talked about her own work, but she has asked him for his advice on a few things," Kara answers.

"Well, it sounds like she knows how to appeal to the male ego," Lucy remarks.

"Are you still at the DEO?" Kara asks.

"No, I'm on my way to my apartment. Let me know when she leaves, I'm supposed to meet her later to debrief," Lucy replies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"May I drop you off?" Max asks as they exit the restaurant.

"Thank you, but that is not necessary," she says with a smile.

"Alex, I'm a gentleman. Please allow me to end our date properly by escorting you home," he replies chivalrously.

"Okay," she says glancing up slightly not wanting to draw attention to Supergirl hovering above them.

She gives the driver her address, realizing that Max probably already knows where she lives.

"I really enjoyed this evening. It's not very often that I can talk science over dinner," she replies coyly.

"Yes, I agree," Max says turning to face her. "I have to admit, this wasn't what I expected from tonight," he confesses.

"What did you expect?" She asks curiously.

"Our past encounters haven't been this relaxed or social," he points out.

"Ah, well perhaps we're beginning a new chapter," she counters.

"Hmm," he considers. Her body language says kiss me, but his brain reminds him that this is the same woman who slammed his head into a desk a few months ago.

The car slows in front of her townhouse, so she turns to him. "Thank you for a lovely evening," she says leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

He brings up his hand to catch her chin and lightly stops her from turning away, then he leans in and kisses her. She returns the kiss, but doesn't let it go too far.

"Hmm, I have a really early day tomorrow. But maybe we could do this again.. soon," she suggests.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alex, what the hell was that?" Kara says landing lightly on the balcony and storming into the room.

"It was a kiss good night, customary after a date," Alex replies defensively but sarcastically. "Kara, it's not a big deal. It didn't mean anything and I'd appreciate it if you don't tell Lucy," she adds.

"You're sure that it didn't mean anything?" Kara asks confused because it certainly looked meaningful.

"I'm positive. It was just part of the game. I'll explain it when Lucy gets here," Alex retorts.

"Are you going to tell her that you suggested another date?" Kara questions.

"Kara, that was me, but undercover. I'm not interested in dating Max Lord, but letting him think that I was got him to lower his guard a little. And with any luck tomorrow when General Lane shows up to pull the project, Max won't suspect a thing," she explains.

A knock on the door indicates Lucy's arrival. Kara rushes to open the door for her and Alex prepares herself to face her girlfriend.

"Uh, wow. You look amazing," Lucy says admiring her girlfriend's dress. "And you own a pair of Louboutins? You've definitely been holding out on me Danvers," she says hesitantly.

"For the record, I'd rather be punched by Supergirl every day than wear these damn shoes again," Alex remarks glaring at the offending footwear. "Hey, I was just about to change into something more comfortable, you want to help me?" She asks Lucy.

"Ew, maybe I'll take a lap around the city... I'll be back in fifteen minutes for the debriefing," Kara says heading out to the balcony.

"Give us twenty!" Lucy jokes calling out after her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How did it go?" Cat asks when Supergirl lands on the balcony at CATCO.

"She says that it went well. Thanks for helping her Cat," Kara says crossing over to hug the media mogul.

"Of course, so she got what she wanted from him?" Cat asks pulling back a bit so she can see the hero's face.

"I don't know yet. We haven't done the official debriefing, when Lucy got there they wanted a moment," Kara explains, not wanting to give away her concerns.

Cat notes the concern on Kara's face, but knows her well enough by now not to press her to talk until she's ready. So instead she deflects and changes the topic.

"Hmm, speaking of moments, we haven't had a moment with you in the suit in a while," Cat says running her hands over Kara's arms, before leaning in for a kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Your date ended early?" Martine says acting surprised to see Max back in the office.

"What are you working on this late?" He asks concerned that she's working late without him.

"I wanted to finish up those reports for you," she explains, not exactly the truth, since she was also monitoring the car service activity, curious as to how the date with the agent would end. "How was your evening?" she asks.

"It was good, pleasant actually. She talked quite a bit about a project that she's working on, which surprised me," he remarks.

"So she didn't ask anything about your projects?" Martine questions.

"No, she didn't," he replies. "It's almost like she actually just wanted to spend time with me," he replies, confusion evident on his face.


	5. Chapter 5

"Wait, you told Lord about your research on the Helgrammite?" Lucy asks concerned.

"Yes, I had to give him something to throw him off," Alex explains.

"How exactly did that throw him off?" Kara asks.

"He's never examined a Helgrammite, so he asked me a lot of questions and asked me what kind of testing that I had done. I learned a lot about his methodology from the questions he asked," she explains further. "Oh and he has a genome lab, which surprised me because he's so tech oriented."

"Okay, so you think this will help you evaluate his research?" Lucy questions.

"I hope so," Alex answers.

"Well keep me posted on how it goes tomorrow morning. I have an early editorial meeting, but I'll be available later," Kara says, staring at Alex a moment too long.

"I'll walk you out," Alex says suddenly realizing that Kara wants to talk to her.

"You haven't told her everything Alex, don't do this. Don't lie to her, she trusts you, tell her the truth," Kara advises.

"I will, I just didn't want to do it in front of you, okay?" Alex says a bit embarrassed.

"If you don't tell her, she'll think that you're hiding something," Kara points out.

"I'm not hiding anything," Alex counters. "I'll tell her."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I may not have super hearing, but I gather there's something more to tonight that Kara wants you to tell me?" Lucy asks crossing her arms and leaning back against the couch.

Sitting down lightly, Alex takes a breath. "Kara's upset because Max kissed me goodnight," she blurts out.

"Oh," Lucy says visibly stunned.

"It was just a good night kiss and before you ask, no, I didn't initiate it. I kissed him goodnight on his cheek," she explains. "Lucy, this was like being undercover, my reaction had to match the tone that I'd set all evening," she adds.

"Okay," Lucy replies exhaling a breath that she didn't realize she was holding. "Thank you for telling me," she adds.

Alex scoots closer to her and slips an arm around her. "You're amazing," she says softly into her hair. "I still can't believe that you got them to pull the Prometheus contract."

Nuzzling into Alex's arms, Lucy let's herself be comforted, but then she remembers that she's got one more thing to tell Alex tonight.

She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. "Alex, I heard from Hank today," Lucy says softly.

"When is he coming back?" Alex asks immediately, pulling away from her to see her face.

"Uh, I'm not sure. He wouldn't tell me where he was, just that he hasn't located what he's searching for yet," Lucy replies. "But I'm wondering if you have any idea as to why he would be in Peru?" She questions.

"How do you know he's in Peru?" Alex blurts out the question.

"I checked the flight log on the plane today," Lucy answers. "What's in Peru Alex?"

"What the hell is going on Lane? All of my government projects have all been terminated without notice?" Lord yells angrily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You need to turn over the remains of The Detonator and all test results and specimens. You have two hours to get everything together and my men will assist you," General Lane explains surprising Maxwell Lord the next morning by showing up at his lab. "Then you have until the end of the day to gather and turn over the remaining projects. I'm as surprised as you are Mr Lord. I just received word from Washington this morning," he adds.

"Where is everything going to? What lab?" Lord asks, gesturing wildly.

"I think that you know the answer to that Mr Lord," Lane replies stoically.

"Oh, that's perfect! Alex Danvers is behind this, isn't she?" Lord questions.

"Alex Danvers is a scientist, she has no clout in Washington Mr Lord," Lane reminds him. "But the acting Director of the DEO is well versed in Washington politics and she was able to use the Bizarro case against you. Seems no one in DC wants to be associated with the man who practically kidnaps comatose women for private experimentation."

"I didn't do anything that the government isn't doing under cover of Project Cadamus," Lord says with a sneer.

"Project Cadamus doesn't exist as far as Washington is concerned, Mr Lord," Lane reminds him.

"How exactly is that funded General?" Lord asks.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that matter with you, but perhaps we could find a way to promote our mutual interests in a less official capacity," Lane replies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex takes a deep breath when she sees the caller id on her phone.

"Max, good morning," she says answering the call.

"Good morning Dr Danvers, that was quite the setup. I don't know whether to be impressed or concerned at your little trick last night," Max replies.

"Max, I didn't have anything to do with this, I just found out this morning," Alex replies lying easily to him.

"You almost had me fooled last night, the Helgrammite was the perfect distraction Danvers. Have you even examined one?" He asks angrily.

"Yes, I have, it attacked a DEO agent and was killed," she explains, leaving out the part that she was the agent who was attacked.

"So you've seen the effect of the Hellgrammite venom on the human body?" He asks suddenly interested despite his anger.

"No, the agent wasn't injured in the attack," Alex replies.

"Seriously? You expect me to believe that a DEO agent bested an alien like that?" He scoffs.

"An agent who has carefully studied these aliens and knows their weaknesses would be able to best them on a good day," she replies carefully.

"Wait, it was you?" He blurts out. "Remind me to be more careful around you in the future Agent Danvers," Max replies, no longer remembering why he called her.

Taking advantage of this unforeseen turn in their conversation, Alex replies, "I'll know if your reports aren't complete Max, so don't make me come over there to get the missing ones."

"Oh, you'll have everything, Mata Hari. The last thing I want is any pseudo military types snooping around my lab," he snaps remembering now why he called her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Any idea why there are Military vehicles parked in front of Prometheus labs removing files and such?" Cat asks entering the small office and closing the door behind her.

"Uh, I'm not sure, do you know why?" Kara asks, not answering the question.

"My contact with the State Department seems to think that Prometheus has lost all of it's government contracts, but the reasons are classified," Cat remarks walking around the room looking at Kara's paintings.

"Hmm, interesting." Kara replies.

Cat turns and carefully scrutinizes her, this maneuver usually will cause Kara enough discomfort that she'll begin spilling whatever it is that she's trying to hide. But this time, Kara sits watching Cat completely calm and unaffected.

"You know," Cat states simply staring her down, daring her not to tell the truth.

"It's classified. How would I know?" Kara retorts instead.

"What were you looking for yesterday when you were researching Prometheus?" Cat asks her.

"I was looking for a pattern," Kara replies, relieved that Cat has finally asked her something that she can answer. "Look at the contracts that he was awarded from the government over the past five years," she hands Cat the spreadsheet.

"Interesting," Cat says as she reviews the print outs. "This is all public record?" She asks to confirm.

"Yes, the contracts are awarded and there's a list every quarter," Kara replies.

"What were you looking for?" Cat asks cautiously.

"A contract for a detailed analysis of 27-QRX was awarded to Prometheus two years ago. A little over a year later, Maxwell Lord submits a patent for 28-QRZ. The government contracts stipulate that the private labs cannot profit from these contracts, yet Lord circumvented the contract, by creating a new chemical compound," Kara points out. "Now look at how many contracts he's been awarded over the past five years," she adds.

"Kara, this is volatile information. In the wrong hands, this could be quite dangerous," Cat says alarmed. "But you documented your research, correct?"

"Yes, I have a source document, that ties each report back to it's source material," she explains.

"Get Winn in here, this all needs to be zipped into a secure folder on my private drive, accessible from my computer only, no one can know that this exists," Cat says pacing the room.

"It's all on your private drive," Kara points out.

"Yes, but that's not secure enough, you have access to it through the share drive, it wouldn't be difficult for someone else to get to it from your access," Cat points out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, I've created the secure folder and zipped it with a 20 character encryption code," Winn explains.

"Now can you go into the main frame and remove my search history for the last month, just erase everything," Cat asks.

"Uh, yes but Ms Grant that will raise red flags with the network administrators," Winn points out.

"I'll worry about them, just do this and don't look at the information Winn, this is a sensitive situation," Cat cautions.

"Yes Ms Grant, the fact that you're asking me to do this for you was kind of a tip off," he mumbles. "Your private drive should have secure key Ms Grant, that would really protect you from any sort of corporate espionage," Winn adds.

"How would that work exactly?" She asks. Winn explains it and Cat is floored, that is the type of protection that she asked for when they gave her the private drive on a separate server after she was hacked a few months ago. "Winn, come to my office later and we're going to order that on my corporate account and you're going to install it for me and set it up."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just pack it all up," Max instructs the scientists. He's not worried about sending everything from this lab to the DEO. He kept his own testing separate from the main one. And there's no way for Agent Danvers to prove that he duplicated the tests or held back samples and specimens. Though he's positive that she'll suspect that he did.

"Mr Lord, is the other facility prepared to sustain the cryogenic stasis?" Dr James, the lead researcher asks.

"I'm sure that they have their own version of it. Why don't you go with the body and assist with the transfer?" Lord suggests.

"Of course, Mr Lord," Dr James replies.

"How is it going Mr Lord?" Martine asks approaching him with a small box of files.

"Almost done, are those the files I asked you to print?" He asks.

"Yes and I included the jump drive that you requested," she replies.

"Great work, well I've got other projects to work on, please see this to completion," Max says waving as Lane's team continues to load up specimens and files.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's all this?" Lucy asks entering the lab to talk with Alex.

"They preserved him cryogenically, so we're holding him in stasis until he thaws out," Alex explains.

"Won't that damage the tissue?" Lucy asks, not sure why she's questioning her.

"I have already taken samples for testing. So I'm just going to transfer him to another holding chamber, like I did with the Helgrammite," she replies.

"Yeah, I'd rather not know that you have a collection of these things," Lucy says grimacing as Kara enters the lab.

"It's not a collection," Alex protests, "One's an alien and the other isn't."

"So what have you found out?" Kara asks her sister.

"Not much. He ran various tests trying to determine how the body metabolized the chemical compound instead of being damaged by it and I'll replicate those tests myself, just to see if I get the same results," Alex explains.

"There has to be more to his testing than that, it's been almost a month," Lucy points out.

"Oh there is, Lord did genome mapping on Mr Lincoln and there are several anomalies, which I can't explain. I need permission to bring in an outside consultant," Alex replies staring at Lucy.

"You have someone in mind, who can be trusted?" Lucy asks.

Glancing over at Kara, Alex replies, "Yes, Dr Eliza Danvers."


	6. Chapter 6

"Alex are you sure that you need to involve Eliza?" Kara asks her sister.

"Kara, I need someone who I can trust," Alex replies. "Her lab does genome mapping, so she's more experienced in it than I am, plus she can repeat the test to ensure this wasn't planted by Max to throw me off. Look, I will send the files to her double blind with encryption, no one will even know that she's consulting on this," she adds looking over at Lucy for approval.

Lucy pauses a moment, "I'll consider it," she replies. "Find out when she's available to meet. We'll need to make sure that her lab is secure before we can transmit any files."

Vasquez enters the lab.

"Ma'ams, I found something on the jump drive," Vasquez says stopping at the doorway, "You'll want to see this," she says heading back out to her desk.

Alex and Lucy rush after her and huddle to look over the agent's shoulder as she explains what she's found.

"These are the same reports that were sent over as print outs," Alex remarks.

"Yes, but there's a virus embedded in the root directory on the jump drive, I'm running it on a closed system now, so that I can analyze it without infecting our whole system," Vasquez explains.

"Are you saying that Maxwell Lord sent over a jump drive loaded with a virus to a government agency?" Lucy asks angrily. "That is beyond the pale, my god this man thinks he's invincible!" she rants.

"Ma'am, the virus acts like malware, I believe that it's devised to transmit copies of all of Agent Danvers reports to Lord Technologies." Vasquez explains. "My guess is that he was hoping that this drive would be loaded into Agent Danvers' system alone," she adds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Martine is in the lab reviewing the reports on The Detonator when she sees the genome mapping file. Examining it closely, she notices that there are three areas highlighted on it, which she doesn't understand. Curious, she pulls up another genome map from the file and compares the two on a split screen.

"What are you doing in here?" Dr James asks entering the now empty laboratory.

"I was just cleaning up, I'm curious about this report though, what do these highlighted sections mean?" Martine asks, pointing at the screen.

"Those are genetic anomalies, we weren't able to confirm if they were present before or caused by the transformation," Dr James says slowly. "Where did you get this second genome map?" He asks.

"It's one from the employee file, I was just doing a comparison to try to understand what I was seeing," she explains.

"You're sure that this is from the employee file and not another test subject?" Dr James asks.

"Yes, I'm positive," she answers. "Is there a problem Dr James?

"There could be, since the markers are almost identical, we could have another meta human in our midst, I should alert Mr Lord," he says turning to leave.

Martine frowns, if only he would jump out of the window, she thinks to herself. Then it happens. Instead of leaving through the door, Dr James walks over to the windows, picks up a chair and uses it to break the glass, before setting it back down, climbing up on it and jumping out.

Martine gasps in shock. Then a sly smile crosses her face as she realizes that her telepathy is stronger than she ever realized. Walking over to the window, she looks down to see the people rushing to aid Dr James. She screams loudly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Martine! What happened?" Max asks bursting into the lab.

"I don't know Mr Lord. One minute Dr James was talking to me, the next minute he was jumping out of the window!" she exclaims throwing herself into his arms.

"Why were the two of you in here?" Max asks looking around the nearly empty lab.

"I came in to clean up and he was looking at these reports," she says nodding at the computer, which only shows the single genome file now.

"This doesn't make any sense, why would he jump out the window?" Max asks concerned. "Did he say anything?"

"He just mumbled something and said that he needed to go. I assumed that he was leaving through the door, but then I heard the glass break and he was out the window before I could react," she explains.

"Okay, well I'm going to run some tests on him. It's probably nothing, but I need to make sure that he wasn't exposed to something here," Max replies, mostly to himself.

"Mr Lord, the police and EMS are here, but they are, uh, waiting for the coroner now," the security guard remarks entering the lab nervously.

"Fine, bring them up and let them look around, but keep an eye on them," Max says watching the guard leave. Then turning to Martine, who has suddenly regained her composure, "Would you shut that computer down and pack it up. All they need to know is that he was in this lab, they don't need to know what he was looking at on that computer," Max says firmly to her, still curious about her response.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"One of Lord's scientists just committed suicide by jumping out of a window on the 20th floor at Prometheus," Kara says into the phone.

"Hold on," Alex says into the phone. Then lowering it she yells over to Vasquez, "Susannah, turn on the news."

_"Dr Malcolm James, a research scientist at Prometheus Laboratory, is reported to have jumped from the twentieth floor after breaking a window with a chair. There were no witnesses and no note has been found," the newscaster reports._

"Dr James was just here yesterday afternoon. Kara, he helped transfer the body from the cryogenic chamber to the stasis pod," Alex exclaims. "Was he going through a messy divorce or something?" She asks.

"The initial background is that his wife died and he has no kids. He's worked at Prometheus for ten years, the CATCO investigative reporter just emailed Cat the details, I'm looking at them now," Kara explains.

"You're reading Cat's email?" Alex asks.

"Yes, I'm still screening them for her, Emily mismarked one last week and Cat insisted that I double check them now," Kara explains.

"So there's nothing yet that would indicate why he was suicidal?" Alex asks.

"The reporter didn't find anything unusual. No outstanding debt, no recent purchases or out of character impulse buys," Kara replies.

"Hmm, well it sounds suspicious. The police are investigating?" Alex questions.

"Yes, they are but only to verify that it's a suicide according to the CATCO crime reporter," Kara answers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I should call Max," Alex says after informing Lucy of the situation.

"You should not call Max Lord," Lucy replies.

"Dr James was just here in my lab, it's just a courtesy to call to give my condolences," Alex explains.

"Lord doesn't need your condolences. Focus on your research Alex, what if there's something in these reports that James was afraid of and that's why he killed himself?" Lucy points out.

"Pheromones!" Alex blurts out. "What if James was exposed to a residual pheromone from The Detonator that caused him to feel suicidal after the body was transferred to us?" She asks.

"Uh, is that really a thing?" Lucy asks concerned.

"It's not likely, but it's a possibility," Alex replies. "I'll increase security on the stasis pod and put protocols in place to protect our people from any exposure to the body," she adds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Martine is hiding out in the ladies room. She still can't believe that she was strong enough to make Dr James throw himself out the window. And what was it he said about the genome mapping proving that she had meta human genetic markers, she wonders if she's had this strong telepathic ability her whole life and just didn't realize it. Of course, it's one thing to get someone to ask you out or buy you a drink, but this is completely different..

The bathroom door opens and another woman enters. Martine looks at her and gets an idea. In her mind, she wills the woman to go turn around and leave. And it happens. Then she wills her to return and go into a stall and leave the door open. She does. Encouraged by this little experiment, Martine leaves the bathroom and returns to her office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I want to know exactly what James was reviewing on that computer before he jumped out of the window," Max says to the head of his IT department.

"Yes Mr Lord, we'll have that for you as soon as possible," the head of security says before leaving the office.

He passes Martine on his way out and she watches as he enters the elevator, then pulls the taser off his belt and zaps himself with it as the doors close.

Smiling to herself, she enters Max's office.

"Martine, why don't you take the rest of the day off," he says showing concern for her.

"I'm fine Mr Lord," Martine replies.

"Just the same, take a few days. You've been working hard and you deserve the break," he says kindly as he dismisses her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr Lord, we just found Chief Marshall in the elevator. Apparently he was tasered and suffered a heart attack," Officer Robbins explains to Max over the phone. "We used the defibrillator on him and EMS is enroute now."

"What the hell is going on here?" Max questions. "Pull all security footage surrounding both of these incidents, we have to figure out what is happening," he says angrily.

"Yes, sir. Right away," Robbins says as Max ends the call.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Jesus, Cat call off your news crew!" He demands over the phone as he looks down on a live remote broadcast right in front of his building. "You have a whole team assigned to my lab?" He asks accusingly.

"No Max, that wasn't necessary since your people keep calling the police for assistance, all we have to do is monitor the scanner," she remarks sarcastically. "Unless, you would like to go on air and explain how your chief of security managed to taser himself alone in an elevator?" Cat asks, "I'd even come do that interview myself," she adds cheekily.

"It's speculation, the taser fell off his belt when he had the heart attack," Max explains. "But that's not why I'm calling. I need for you to dial down the coverage, all of this speculation is making my employees nervous and it's not fair to them," he adds.

"Fair?" Cat repeats the word like she's never heard it before. "Max, you can't expect CATCO to not report the same news that everyone else is reporting," she replies.

"I just asked you to dial down the coverage. The CATCO helicopter has been circling over my lab for an hour now," he says angrily.

"Well, these things often do come in threes," Cat teases.

"I'm sending everyone home for the day and closing the lab until Monday, so there'll be nothing more for you to report," he says angrily before ending the call.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kara looks up and smiles when Cat enters her office and closes the door.

"Hi," she says happily, as Cat crosses the room and perches on the edge of her desk.

"Max Lord just called me to ask that I dial down coverage on his lab," Cat explains.

"Did something else happen?" Kara asks curiously.

Cat smiles. She had two tv's installed in Kara's office, but the girl never turns them on. Reaching over she picks up the remote and turns them on.

"A suicide and a heart attack," Kara notes watching the coverage. "Unfortunately, those things happen all the time," she remarks.

"Or it could be that Max has created something in his lab that is affecting his staff adversely," Cat suggests sarcastically.

Kara looks up quickly.

"Kara?" Cat questions. "Kara has that happened before?"

"Not exactly, but it's not outside of the realm of possibilities," she replies. "Cat, I need to warn Alex." Kara says moving quickly to the door, stopping a moment to kiss her goodbye. "I'll call you later," she adds before dashing into the stairwell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max is sitting in his office watching the security footage and he's stunned. Both James and Marshall interacted with Martine prior to their incidents. Then there's the file history on the computer showing the DNA comparison, which only took Max a few minutes to realize what he was looking at. Martine has the exact same genetic markers for meta-human as Raymond Lincoln. There's no mistaking what this means, but he's hesitant to decide how to handle the information. His employees did not actually consent to genome mapping, he collected their DNA from Employee Health mandatory health screenings, which gave him permission to do testing to ensure that they haven't been exposed to anything during their employment.

While he tries to decide what to do, he turns on the tv in his office to what the latest reports are since he shut down the lab.

_"The unknown woman entered the bank and within minutes everyone started handing her their valuables, she didn't brandish a weapon of any kind, nor did she talk to anyone," the newscaster reports._

The footage isn't that clear, but Max is fairly certain that it's Martine in the video. He sighs angrily before snatching up the phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Supergirl, can you get to Prometheus Labs immediately? Max Lord wants to talk with you about one of his employees," Alex says over the comms.

"I'm on my way to the DEO, Alex I think that he's created something that's making his people suicidal," Supergirl replies, "You may be exposed to it," she adds worriedly.

"No, that's not it. One of his staff is a meta-human, she's telepathically manipulating people into hurting themselves. Lord wants you to stop her," Alex explains.

"Why doesn't he call the police?" Kara retorts.

"Because she can manipulate the human brain, Supergirl you may be the only one who can stop her," Alex answers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Supergirl enters the Prometheus laboratory front entrance and is immediately greeted by Maxwell Lord. He quickly updates her on the situation and one of the security guards hands her a photo with Martine's information on the back of it. Supergirl nods and takes off again to locate her.

On the ground, Max heads back up to his office and picks up the phone. "We need to meet. There's been an interesting development," he says into the phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Your pretty little assistant has gone rogue," General Lane says entering Lord's office an hour later.

"How would you know that General?" Max asks sitting back in his chair.

"I have my sources," Lane replies walking around the room carefully. "Now, is that the interesting development?" He asks.

"Not exactly," Max replies, a confident smile spreading across his face.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N: Wow, so the series is a lot more challenging... so many more things to track, thank god I have a beta who stays on top of it (we hope). Thanks for everyone who is following this and we hope that you're enjoying it. I'm trying to post chapters in groups so it moves a bit faster. It is an odd pace though, I have to admit.**
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max stands up to come around his desk to explain.

"The genetic markers that we found in Raymond Lincoln's genome map indicate an individual's propensity for meta human capabilities."

"You've lost me. I thought you said those were markers from the chemical reaction?" Lane questions.

"Now I believe that those markers actually indicate who has the ability to be a meta human. Martine has those markers and she's used telepathy to make Dr James jump to his death, Chief Marshall tasered himself and she managed to rob a bank today without uttering a word or brandish a weapon of any kind," Max explains. "General, imagine if you could draft an army of people with these genetic markers, they'd be invincible," he points out.

"How do you propose that we do that Mr Lord?" General Lane asks.

"Easy, you ask your current men and women to volunteer their DNA in order to be selected for an elite special ops troop, then we map them to find the ones with these genetic markers," Max answers.

"A troop of meta human soldiers sounds interesting, but how would we control them?" Lane asks.

"I don't have the answer to that yet, but I'm working on it," Lord replies.

"I'm not too keen on putting a group of these folks together unless I know that I can get them to do what I need them to do," Lane replies gruffly. "Do you understand me, Mr Lord?" He adds.

"Of course, like I said, I'm still working out a few things, but an army of meta humans could protect us from these caped aliens," Max points out.

"As much as I hate them, those caped aliens are the only ones who can protect us from the meta humans," Lane counters, pointing to the tv, which shows Supergirl apprehending Martine. The two men watch silently as a team of specially outfitted DEO agents approach the hero and slip a special helmet over the captive woman's head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Max, what are you doing here?" Cat asks annoyed at the interruption and surprised that he got past security again.

"Nice coverage of the take down," he says nodding at the tv screen. "Oh and I really appreciate you mentioning that she not only was my employee, but she was my personal assistant," Max adds sarcastically.

"If you have a problem with my reporters reporting the facts, get in line Max, the Trump people are threatening to pull my FCC license in the unlikely event that he is elected," Cat says returning to her paperwork.

"The facts," Max says stroking his chin. "What about the facts about your assistant Cat?" He asks. "Do you know any more about Kara Danvers than I knew about Martine Hewitt?

"Well let's see, one, Kara Danvers is no longer my assistant and two, she's not a psychopath, so I'd say yes Max, I do know more about her than you knew about Martine," Cat points out, pushing away from her desk. A bit concerned now about this impromptu visit. Then catching a swirl of blue and red out of the corner of her eye, she smiles relieved as Supergirl lands softly on the balcony. Cat opens the door to greet her. "Supergirl, great job apprehending that menace."

"Thank you Ms Grant," she says smiling at the media mogul before turning to Max.

"Mr Lord, I was looking for you when I heard your voice as I flew by," Supergirl explains. "Ms Hewitt is now being held by the FBI in a special containment unit, I don't think she'll be allowed visitors though, obviously."

"We were actually just talking about Kara Danvers," Max says pacing around the room. "You know her quite well, don't you Supergirl?"

"Uh, I've met her. She's Ms Grant's assistant," Supergirl replies smiling at Cat.

"Right," Max says weighing his next words carefully. "Isn't it odd that you and Kara Danvers have so much in common?" He asks smugly.

Cat groans at Max's display of arrogance. "You honestly think that I don't know what's going on here Max?" Cat snaps crossing the room to stand beside Supergirl. "There's nothing that you can tell me about Kara Danvers or Supergirl that I don't already know. Now if that's all you're here to do, you may leave," she says dismissively.

Max looks at Supergirl for confirmation and she shrugs. "Mr Lord, I believe the lady asked you to leave her office," the hero says firmly.

"Cat Grant knows? The Queen of all Media is just sitting on the story of the year?" Max roars. "What does she have on you Cat? How does one buy the silence of Cat Grant, I'm just curious," he asks barely keeping his anger in check.

"She doesn't have anything on me, Max. You of all people know that I have zero tolerance for blackmail," Cat replies shooting him a dangerous look.

"Ms Grant simply choose to listen to her better angels, it serves no purpose for the public to know who I am privately," Supergirl points out, subtly reminding him of his own agreement to keep her secret.

"Not every secret needs to be told Max, you of all people should know that," Cat snarks seething with anger. How dare he come into her office and try to stir up trouble like this. Who the hell does he think he is?

"Now Mr Lord, I believe that you were asked to leave," Supergirl reminds him before taking a step closer to him, her hands still on her hips in her power pose.

"Right," he says tilting his head. "Well, Supergirl, I should thank you for your assistance today," he adds suddenly uncharacteristically contrite as he turns to leave. Walking slowly to the door he turns.

"Cat says that there isn't anything about you that she doesn't know," Max says regaining his swagger, "I'll bet that the reverse isn't true though... Cat, should I tell her about what happens when you listen to your lesser angels?"

Supergirl flinches at the remark and suddenly Max realizes that he struck a nerve. No wonder the hero is so protective of Cat Grant, she has a crush on her.

"I see that look. Do you see it Cat? She's afraid to know about your dark side. She looks up to you," Max points out smugly.

"We all have dark sides Mr Lord, now unless you'd like to see mine, I suggest that you leave... now!" Supergirl says loudly staring at him intensely.

"Oh, I'm leaving. I think my work here is done," he says chuckling to himself. "Enjoy your evening ladies," he adds waving as he walks out to the elevator.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I could literally throw him into space," Kara exclaims as the elevator doors close. Then turning around she sees Cat shaking. Unsure if it's nerves or anger, she approaches her warily.

"Cat?" She asks softly.

"Kara, there is something that I need to tell you about Maxwell Lord. And I'm not proud of it... I-I'm ashamed of it actually, but I would rather that you hear it from me," she says turning away from her.

"Cat, you don't have to tell me now. Let's get out of here and meet back at your place where we can discuss this privately," Kara says turning her around to face her and placing a hand on each of Cat's shoulders to hold her there.

"You may not think much of me after I tell you, so I'd rather just say it and get this over with," Cat says wiping her tears and lifting her head defiantly.

"Cat I am not naive enough to think that you're perfect. Everyone makes mistakes," Kara says lifting her chin to look into her eyes.

"Well, this was definitely a mistake. I had a brief affair with Max and that's what led to my second divorce," she explains.

Kara steels her face refusing to react to this news. She'd always imagined that there sexual tension between the two, she'd just always hoped that it was unresolved. "I see," she says finally, careful not to pull away.

"You are disappointed. Me too," Cat says, sardonically.

"Cat, I could always tell that there was something between you two," Kara replies softly. "I know that he has a certain charm, why do you think I was so freaked out about Alex spending time with him? Cat did you, did you tell Alex this before me?" She hesitates to ask.

"Kara, I told Alex that I had been with Max, but I didn't tell her that it was during my marriage," Cat explains. "You're sister already doesn't think much of me, I didn't want to add fuel to the fire," she points out.

"It's not that Alex doesn't like you. She worries about me and she's afraid that the more people who know the truth about me the more dangerous it will be," Kara counters pulling Cat into her arms and kissing her lightly.

Cat accepts the comfort and begins to relax, when she suddenly remembers the other part of the conversation.

"What is it that you have over Max that keeps him from exposing you Kara?" She questions.

"That isn't a conversation that we're going to have right now, especially not here in your office," Kara replies, remembering suddenly that she's still in her cape and skirt. "I should be going, meet you at the penthouse in an hour?"

"Yes, yes, I'll be there," Cat replies. "Kara?" she calls out reaching for the hero's hand. "Please remember that I'm not easy to change, but having Carter in my life changed me. I'm not the same person who I was twelve years ago," she says softly to the hero.

Supergirl smiles at her and squeezes her hand. "Not many people are Cat," she replies, shuddering slightly as she realizes what happened in her own life twelve years ago.


	8. Chapter 8

"Kara where are you?" Alex asks when her sister answers the phone.

"I'm at my place, but I'm heading over to Cat's," Kara answers. "Please don't tell me that you need me tonight," she adds worriedly.

"No, I just didn't see you before you left the DEO, everything's okay?" Alex asks doing her usual big sister thing.

"Yeah, I had to go check on Cat, Lord was there in her office. Alex, I don't get it. He asked me for help and I helped him, then he heads over to CATCO to out Supergirl to Cat," Kara replies.

"Wait, he went there to out Supergirl?" Alex asks. "What his assistant is a psycho so he wants her to know that hers is a superhero... that makes no sense," she adds.

"Well, he's having a really bad week," Kara points out generously.

"It is going to get worse," Alex counters angrily, then looking up at her girlfriend entering, she adds, "Lucky for him, Lucy just showed up. I'll fill her in. Kara take the night off, you deserve it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kara steps off the elevator to find Cat's front door open slightly, soft jazz filtering out into the hallway and the smell of lasagna leading her into the kitchen.

"Mmm," Kara moans coming up behind Cat and wrapping her arms around her and kissing her neck. "I am not complaining, but you didn't have to get my favorite tonight Cat," she says softly into Cat's hair.

Cat gasps softly and melts into her arms, turning slightly to say, "Kara, I was so wrapped up in what had happened to me twelve years ago, that I didn't even think about what happened to you at that time. Darling, I am sorry. That was incredibly insensitive."

"You weren't being insensitive, you were reacting to having your past thrown into your face. Cat I hadn't even considered the context before. I mean I know that your life changed twelve years ago, because your son is twelve. It's odd to think about that isn't it?" Kara remarks.

"Let's not," Cat replies with a slight frown.

"If my pod had landed when it was supposed to, we would be the same age now and who knows what things I would have in my past," Kara points out.

"Kara, if your pod had landed when it was supposed to then we wouldn't be here together. In fact, we would probably never have met," Cat counters, walking away from her to pull the food out of the warmer and plate it.

"I don't believe that, Cat. And I admired you long before I worked for you," Kara reminds her sheepishly.

"Darling," Cat replies reaching out a hand to cup her chin, "Dinner is ready," she says kissing her lightly on the lips. "Perhaps you wouldn't mind opening the wine?"

Cat carefully sets the plates down and lights the two candles, while Kara decants the wine. She waits before turning the lights down, because she knows that Kara loves to watch the patterns that the wine makes as it swirls through the aerator and into the decanter.

"Mmm Cat, this is perfect. Thank you," Kara says waiting for the other woman to be seated before sitting down herself.

"Maybe we can just put today behind us for a few minutes," Cat says placing her hand over Kara's and giving it a light squeeze. Kara nods and leans in to kiss her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"As much as I want to know what you have over Max Lord, I do understand if you can't tell me," Cat says as she watches Kara load the dishwasher.

"Wow," Kara replies. "That is not what I expected you to say." She exclaims leaning back against the counter to look at the other woman for a moment.

"I know. Me either," Cat remarks. "But I am curious how long has he known?"

Kara nervously adjusts her glasses. Cat knows from experience that it means Kara is about to tell her a half-truth.

"Bizarro," Cat exclaims softly, realizing the point when she herself considered that perhaps Kara was Supergirl. "Of course, Max was behind that wasn't he?" She questions as she crosses the room. Then holding up her hand, she places her fingers to Kara's lips. "Don't say another word. Kara I saw the look of disgust on your face and I assumed that it was about me and him. But you know things about him that I probably shouldn't know, don't you?"

Kara closes her eyes and reaches up to remove Cat's hand from her lips. "Cat, there's so much that I can't tell you and believe me, you don't want to know and I don't want you to know, because you'll think badly of me," she stammers.

"Darling, I would never think badly of you. And as for Max, he never had much in the way of morals to begin with, so there isn't much you could tell me that would surprise me. But if you not telling me means that I can safely write that expose on him and expose him to the world, then by all means don't say another word." Cat replies taking her hand and leading her to the couch.

"You'd still write that story?" Kara asks.

"That research you did Kara will stand on it's own. I'll have to run it by legal and they'll have to vet it before we could even consider printing it, but yes, I'll publish that story, my history with Max is just that, history. I owe him nothing and if he was behind creating an evil nemesis for Supergirl, especially one who put the public at risk, well he needs to be stopped. And if there's some reason that you and your agency can't stop him, but I can, then I won't hesitate to do it," Cat answers firmly.

"Cat, it's too dangerous, I don't know if I can let you do it," Kara exclaims.

"Let me?" Cat asks quirking an eyebrow. "Darling, you may have superpowers which allow you to do many things, but controlling what I do or don't do will never be one of them," she says pulling away.

"I can't stand by and let you put yourself in danger Cat and what about Carter?" Kara asks.

"I would never do anything to put Carter in danger, Kara. You know that," Cat snaps at her.

"Cat, I need you to understand that Max Lord is dangerous to me and tonight he found out how important you are to me, so now he's dangerous to you as well," Kara points out.

"He doesn't know this about us Kara," Cat counters confidently.

"It's only a matter of time with him. He used Alex to find out who I was to her and she's a trained agent," Kara remarks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hack into CATCO's security feed, I want to see how close Cat is to Kara Danvers. Cat doesn't usually go for young and poor, but then she does go for strength and you don't get much stronger than a goddamn superhero," Max says pacing behind his IT lackey.

"Mr Lord, there's no security footage from the 28th floor available," the IT guy points out.

"It's missing or not in this file?" Max asks.

"Both I guess, sir," the guy replies.

"Check the root directory, is there another location for security footage from that floor?" Max questions.

"Ah, yes there is sir. The security footage is saved to a private drive, separate from the mainframe. There's no way to get to it from the mainframe, sir. This is a top of the line security measure," he remarks.

"Yes, yes it is. So what is Cat hiding that is so important to her that she would go to these lengths to protect it?" Max asks mostly to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max is sitting at the park across the street from Cat's Penthouse. He watched the security feed in his office and was curious when he saw the girl leave early after she watched Cat board the CATCO helicopter and take off from the roof.

On the monitor, he then watched Kara Danvers go down to the parking garage and get into the waiting car and ride out to pick up Cat's son from school. Judging by the child's response to her, this wasn't the first time. And now watching the two of them exit the building together and walk through the park, it looks like they have a routine that they follow.

Max knows how extremely protective Cat is about her son, but it makes sense that she would trust Supergirl to watch him in her absence, but he's getting the feeling that there may be more to this.

"Hello Ms Danvers," Max says approaching her and the boy.

"Mr Lord," Kara says taken aback by his sudden presence, her hand instinctively reaching out for Carter and pulling him close.

"Carter Grant, right?" Max asks bending down to greet the boy. "We've met before Carter, you were on my train."

Carter looks at him nervously, then back to Kara, who wraps an arm around him protectively.

"Mr Lord, we were just running some errands. If you'll excuse us," Kara says pushing Carter ahead of her a little so he can't see her glaring at Max, warning him to back off.

"Of course," Max says smirking. "I think I've gotten what I came here for," he adds smugly.

"Kara, I don't like him at all," Carter says watching Max walk away.

"Neither do I Carter, neither do I," Kara replies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How is it really going?" Cat asks after Carter hands the phone off to Kara.

"Fine," Kara replies hesitantly and Cat hears the pause again. Carter did the exact same thing.

"Kara, fortunately for me, neither you nor Carter are good liars. Out with it, what are you not telling me?" Cat says more concerned than annoyed.

"Carter and I were walking through the park after school and we ran into Maxwell Lord," Kara admits reluctantly.

"In the park across the street from the Penthouse?" Cat asks alarmed now.

"Yes, I think he was watching me. Well, I'm sure that he was, but don't worry as soon as you get back, I'll go have a talk with him and set new ground rules. It won't happen again Cat. I'll take care of it," Kara promises.

"Maybe it's time for me to have a heart to heart with Mr Lord," Cat snaps angrily.

"Cat, remember what we talked about the other night?" Kara asks. "Please let me handle this, it's my fight. It's me he is trying to get to," she reminds her.

"He has no right to be anywhere near my son. Carter has to stay out of this Kara," Cat says firmly almost desperately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hanging up the phone, Cat sighs. She actually managed to convince herself long ago that there was no way Max could be her child's father, but the reality is that she doesn't know. Her affair with Max wasn't planned, it was a crazy one night stand, fueled by alcohol and a lover's spat with her new husband. It was a few weeks later when Max tried to blackmail her into selling him CATCO stock that she realized why he was there and what a fool she had been. And by then she was pregnant. Fortunately she is an excellent liar and she was able to convince Max that she was already pregnant when they had sex, while convincing her husband that just the opposite had occurred. The two men hated each other and never compared notes. Now it would appear that she's going to have to face this again. She had decided that both she and her son would be better off not knowing if Max was his father, but now she's not so sure. If only there was a way to get the testing done confidentially and safely.


	9. Chapter 9

"Supergirl," Max says looking up from his drink. "I'd say what a surprise, but that would be a lie. I've been expecting you," he replies smugly holding up his glass as if to toast her arrival.

"I'm confused Max, what is it exactly that you want from me? You've tested me, you've tried to destroy me, then you ask me for help, now you're stalking me... so what is it, are you obsessed with me now?" She asks sarcastically, hoping to provoke him, because now that's she's in front of him, she's unsure what to say. If she mentions Cat and Carter first, he'll know that they are her priority which is the last thing she wants him to focus on.

"You are beautiful, but unlike Cat Grant, I don't have an alien kink," he replies flippantly. "That is what you are to her, right?" Max asks standing up to cross in front of her.

She steels her resolve to not react to his words and instead she draws up to her full size in front of him. "It is not any of your business what Cat Grant likes or doesn't like," she replies angrily. "But I want to know what the hell you are up to Mr Lord?"

"I'm just a scientist trying to understand my world, Supergirl. A world with aliens and meta humans ... it's often difficult to understand which ones can be trusted," he remarks.

"I didn't think that you were struggling yesterday when you asked the alien for help to capture the meta human," Supergirl points out.

Max shrugs. "Everyone knows that Supergirl doesn't kill, so calling you means Martine is still alive...somewhere," he adds.

"I see, so that was really just another one of your tests," Kara snaps angrily, suddenly realizing that every interaction with him is just another way for him to test and understand her.

"You give me too much credit," he remarks. "But it is interesting how you were unaffected by Martine's telepathic abilities. Yet, someone like Maxima was able to manipulate you easily," Max adds.

"And I find it interesting that your assistant didn't manipulate you Mr Lord," Kara remarks, hoping to deflect his comment, the last thing she needs is for him to know about Maxima's pheromones affecting her.

"I've taken precautions which make me immune to telepathy," he brags.

"Of course, you have," she replies. "Mr Lord, let me remind you that you are out of DEO custody by my authority and that could change at a moment's notice, should I decide that you are a threat to anyone in National City," Supergirl says striding confidently across the room before drawing up to her full size again and striking her most powerful pose.

"Leave me, my friends and everyone of the employees of CATCO alone or I'll have you back in a DEO containment cell so fast, that you won't know what hit you," she says firmly.

"All of the employees of CATCO?" Max questions. "Nice try, but I know that it's Cat Grant and her son who you are really here to protect..." he adds smugly.

"Back. Off." Supergirl repeats. "You don't want to see me angry, Mr Lord."

"I'm sure that it's quite a sight," he retorts calmly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I never should have released him from DEO custody!" Kara says angrily pacing across the lab, while Alex and Lucy watch her nervously.

"Well, as much as I wanted to, we couldn't detain him indefinitely, though I do wish that someone would expose him for what he really is," Alex remarks glancing over at Lucy who wasn't aware that Max was illegally detained at the DEO.

"Maybe that's it. Alex. Cat and I are working on an expose of Prometheus labs, there's a pattern of government contracts and patents that goes all the way back to his first contract. Her legal department is vetting it now, but I've been scared for her to publish it," Kara explains.

"She shouldn't publish it yet, but maybe she should turn over the evidence to another government agency who could launch their own investigation," Lucy replies. "The patents would be considered profiteering, which violates his government contracts, you're sure that your research is solid?" She asks.

"Yes, Cat double checked it and sent it to legal to vet the source documents," Kara answers.

"Let me review the research," Lucy replies eagerly. "And I'll send it to a few friends, I'm sure that I get the government to begin investigating him and then Cat can publish the story and get all the credit," she adds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Max is going over some lab reports when General Lane shows up.

"Good morning General Lane, did we have a meeting?" Max asks curiously.

"No. I just stopped by to officially pull the plug on the meta human project," he replies firmly.

"It's no longer a joint venture General and you don't have a say in my private enterprises," Max points out.

"Mr Lord, if you think I'm going to stand by and let you assemble an army of uncontrollable meta humans..." he begins, before Lord cuts him off.

"You'll what? Tell your superiors that you were helping me create an army of meta humans but got cold feet?" Max asks. "Yeah, somehow I don't think that you'll do that, in fact, I think you'll pretend not to know anything about this because otherwise you'll jeopardise your 35 year military career," he adds smugly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After General Lane leaves the office, Max heads down to the IT department.

"The student medical files at St Edmunds school are quite interesting Mr Lord," the IT guy says printing out the requested file and handing it to his boss.

"I'll be the judge of that," Max says snatching the file out of the man's hand and taking it back to his own office to review.

Cat's blood type is O and her son's is B, which is the same as Max's, but the father's blood type isn't disclosed, so this doesn't prove anything. What he really needs is the kid's DNA, then he could run a paternity test and find out once and for all if Cat's been lying to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kara is standing at Emily's desk trying not to be obvious about watching the two women meeting in the office in front of her. Lucy and Cat have been talking for over an hour now and Kara promised not to eavesdrop, but it's killing her to not know what they're talking about now that the files are closed on the table in front of them.

Cat looks up and for a moment maintains eye contact with Kara, then she turns away from the glass.

"Ms Lane, there is another matter that I need to discuss with you, but this isn't the right place or time. Perhaps we could meet later this week for lunch?" Cat asks.

"I'll schedule something with your assistant, but are you sure this is something that you should discuss with me?" Lucy asks noticing Kara in the bullpen.

"I need some advice on a sensitive matter and since you're an attorney anything we discuss will be protected by attorney/client privilege," Cat points out.

"Except that you're not my client," Lucy points out.

"Check that folder again, Ms Lane. I think that you'll find an envelope with a check and a contract that outlines everything that I need from you in this secondary matter," Cat counters.

"I see that you've thought of everything," Lucy replies picking up the folder. "I'll review this and let you know if I can accept your terms."

"You are in a unique position to advise me on this matter. I think that you'll find my offer more than generous, Ms Lane," Cat replies standing up to see her out.

"I'll be in touch," Lucy remarks, curious now, but not wanting to commit to anything yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How did your meeting go with Cat Grant?" Alex asks Lucy that evening.

"It was very interesting. Kara's case against Prometheus is really good. Her research is solid, I'm sending it to a friend of mine in Homeland Security," Lucy replies with just a slight hesitation.

"But there's something else," Alex says studying her girlfriend carefully.

"Cat wants to retain me as private council. She gave me a retainer check and a contract for service," Lucy answers.

"Did she tell you what it's about?" Alex asks.

"No, she just said that I am in a unique position to advise her on the matter," Lucy replies.

"Are you going to do it?" Alex inquires.

"She seemed really sincere about needing my help and the retainer amount is ridiculous," Lucy points out.

"How ridiculous?" Alex asks.

Lucy shows her the check and Alex pushes away from the table. "Oh god, I think I know what this is about," Alex blurts out.

"How would you know?" Lucy asks confused.

"When I met with Cat she confessed that she'd had sex with Max Lord. Yesterday, Max showed up in the park across the street from Cat's building and ran into Kara and Carter in the park. Kara is really freaked out about it and worried that Max is stalking her or up planning to do something to Carter. Lucy, what if Cat's been lying to everyone and Max is really Carter's father?" Alex questions.

"Alex, that's quite a leap. Did Cat tell you that she slept with Max before she was pregnant?" Lucy asks.

"No, she said she'd slept with him, she didn't provide a timeline," Alex admits.

"So sometime in her past, she slept with Maxwell Lord and you immediately jump to him being the father of her child?" Lucy questions.

"Yes, because Cat doesn't hide many things, but she that's something that she would hide. She'd do anything to protect her son," Alex points out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Kara?" Emily hesitates as she enters the small office.

"What's up?" Kara asks glancing up at Cat's assistant.

"Um, the school called and Carter seems to be missing," Emily says nervously.

"Oh god, where's Cat? Why did they call here?" Kara blurts out, grabbing her phone and unlocking it to check for messages.

"She's at lunch and she forwarded her phone to the office," Emily explains.

"SHE WHAT?" Kara yells. "So we can't contact her? Why would she do that?"

"She didn't want to be disturbed," Emily replies.

"Okay, so where's she having lunch?" Kara asks.

"I don't know. And before you ask, she didn't tell me who she was meeting with either," the girl adds.

"Okay, I'm heading to the school. When Ms Grant checks in, you tell her to contact me," Kara replies.

"He's not at the school. His class had a field trip today, he's at the Science Museum," Emily reminds her.

"Got it. Look, don't tell anyone about this until you talk to Ms Grant," Kara says grabbing her jacket and moving towards the door.

"I hope that you find him before she calls," Emily says hopefully.

"Me too," Kara admits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carter knows that Kara told him not to trust this man, but his curiosity got the best of him when he offered to show him a real alien. "How do you know that it's a real alien?" The boy asks.

"We ran tests and compared him to other known aliens," Max answers.

"Known aliens? Like Supergirl and Superman?" Carter asks.

"Yes, but there are aliens from other planets besides just the ones from Krypton," Max explains crossing the room to turn on the light. Flipping another switch, the wall comes to life showing the solar system and Lord's voice booms out of speaker.

"Whether you call them aliens, extra-terrestrials or intergalactical guests, they all have one thing in common, they have come to Earth because their planet was destroyed or can no longer sustain life. This exhibit is going to explore how these other life forms are depleting resources and overcrowding Earth..."

"Uh, I don't think that I should have left my class Mr Lord," Carter says nervously as he glances around the laboratory. The boy knows enough about the galaxy to know that this exhibit is dangerous, which probably means the man is too.

"It's fine, I'm sure that they won't notice that you're gone and this is a special part of the museum that very few people get to see yet," Max says hoping to reassure the boy.

Now, I promised you an alien, so let's go into the next lab," Max says crossing the room and placing his chin in place to trigger the retinal scanner.

Carter notices the security measure and realizes that he's made a seriously dangerous move by going with this man. "Uh, Mr Lord. I changed my mind. I think it's time for me to go join my class now," then boy stammers before backing out of the room and racing down the hall.

Damn it, Max swears under his breath, he was really just trying to steal some time to get to know the boy with the added benefit of scaring Cat Grant, but now he's worried that the boy won't be able to find his way back to the tour group. Taking his phone out he makes a call. "Scott? Max Lord. I was just leaving my lab and I think that I saw a kid from that tour group in the hallway. He headed for the stairs," Max says sounding just the right amount of annoyed and concerned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Go over it with me again, when did you first notice that he wasn't with the group?" Kara is talking to the parents and teachers who were helping chaperone the field trip.

"Where is Ms Grant? I can't believe that her kid is missing and she sends her assistant?" One of the parents whispers behind Kara's back.

"Ms Grant doesn't know her son is missing, she's in a very important meeting," Kara snaps turning around to glare at them.

"He was talking to that man," one of the boys says pointing to an advertisement on the wall touting the new Maxwell Lord Alien exhibit that is coming in the Fall.

"Maxwell Lord is here in the museum?" Kara asks the child pointing to the ad on the wall.

"Mr Lord just called, he said that there's a boy in the hallway upstairs near his lab," the security guard replies hanging up the phone. But when he turns back, the woman he was talking to is gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the restaurant, Cat and Lucy are finishing up their meeting, when Lucy's phone buzzes. It's a 911 from Kara asking her to send a team to the Science Museum to help locate Carter Grant, who was last seen with Maxwell Lord.

Lucy's face goes pale when she reads the message and Cat looks at her.

"What's happening?" She asks alarmed.

"Uh, have you checked your phone?" Lucy asks.

"No, I forwarded it to the office so I wouldn't be disturbed. Ms Lane, tell me what's going on?" Cat says pulling her phone out and turning it back on.

"We'll go together. I'll drive," Lucy says rushing her out of the restaurant.

"Where are we going and why?" Cat asks stopping in her tracks.

"The Science Museum. Your son is missing," Lucy replies.


End file.
